You may think jail is a place for convicted criminals. You would be wrong. In San Francisco, 85 percent of the roughly 1,300 inmates in county jail haven’t been convicted of anything. That’s more than 1,000 men and women. They are there not because they have been found guilty but because they simply cannot afford bail.

A nightclub security guard who armed himself for protection against a threatening patron has been cleared of gun charges after two juries failed to convict him, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi announced today.

A recycler accused of attacking the self-appointed sheriff of a SOMA alley was acquitted of all charges after a jury determined he acted in self-defense, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi announced today.

A man convicted last month of three robberies will receive a new trial after a judge found two jurors had poisoned the deliberations with their comments, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi announced today.

The San Francisco Public Defender’s Office will help scores of homeless and low-income veterans clean up their criminal records and lift outstanding warrants and fines Saturday at East Bay Stand Down, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi announced today.

In an effort to ensure every student starts school with the tools to succeed, the San Francisco Public Defender’s BMAGIC program will provide backpacks stuffed with school supplies to more than 3,000 youth in the Bayview on Saturday, Aug. 16.

In a win for defense attorneys and advocates of government transparency, the state appellate court this week strengthened defendants’ access to police misconduct records affecting their right to a fair trial, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi announced today.

A homeless man who stabbed a bully who had beaten him bloody over a shelter bed was acquitted after a jury determined he acted in self-defense, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi announced today.